Rotor for high-speed electrical machines.



H. H. WAIT. .ROTDR FOR HIGH SPEED ELECTRICAL MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAILU, 1907. 980,032 I Patented Dec. 27, 1910.

3 SHEETS*SHEET 1.

H! H, WAIT,

ROTOR FOR HIGH SPEED "ELECTRICAL momma. APPLIUATIOH FILED HAEJl, 1907. 980,032, Fatented Dee. 27, 1910 3 BHEETSSHEBT 2.

lllli H H H In H H I ll H. H: WAIT. I ROTGR FOR HIGH SPEED ELBGTRI AL' MACHINES.

' APPLICATION FILED MARJI, 1907.

' 3 SHEETB-BHBET a.

nub-mm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY H. WAIT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ROTOR FOR HIGH-SPEED ELECTRICAL MACHINES.

- application filed March 11 To all whom it may concern;

Be itknown that I. H nxnr H. lair, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have lnvented certain new and use ful Improvements in Rotors for'I-Iigh-Speed and motors, whether of t Electrical Machines, of which the following is afulhelear, concise, and exact description.

'f-Myinvention relates to a rotor for high speed electrical machines such as generators he direct-current or alternatingeurrcnt ty 7 and its ob'ect is to'-"i'ovide an improve construction or the en =portions of the rotor with particular reference tothe support 0 the end-connecta-ing1pdrtions of the windings, so that they will not be subject to displacement ,by centrifugal-force.

My invention also, contemplates an im provtd arrangcment ot-the equalizer windmg inthe armatures of direct-current 1118- In the construction of the rotating parts of generators which are intended to he drivenby'turbine engines, oneof the great.- cst difli'culties is due to the necessity of insulating the "copper windings from the. core and' 'frbm the other metallic suppor s for these jvindings. \Vhen the inachinrs are mt intoscrvice there is a tendency for this ins'ulation to be con'ipressed more or less under the centrifugal andother strains, and gi've'i'is'tosome movement of the conductorsfwiththe result of throwing the rotor out-of balance. It is the purpose of this. in-

'- ve'ntion to overcome these difliculties by proriding such support for the windings that theirdisplacement under operating conditionswill be practically impossible.

Intheaccompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a"longitudinal sectional View of a rotor em'btalying my invention; Fig. is a din grain"illustrating a portion of the winding developed nitofa plane and showing insu lati'ng'tilocks'whieh are forced into the open spaces to assist in holding the cud-connections a 'amst dis ilaceinent' Fu 3 is a tru b 7 h 2 Like parts are designated bysirnilar charmcnt ary cross-sectional view of a portion of the'rotor, takenat line 3 of Fig. 1; Fig.1 4 illustrates the connectionsfrom the commutater segments to the main and equz-dizer windings and Fig. 5 illustrates a means of compressing the insulating n'lat'erial which is placed around the end-connecting portions of the winding.

Specification of Letters Patent.

acters of reference throughout the several views.

armature for a four-pole direct-current generator and is provided with main windings (3 and equalizing connections 7, uniting those commutator segments which are intended to be maintained at the same potential..

In accordance with my invention, the windings are blocked and wedged in place, with all available space between and around the conductors tilled with insulating material and the whole is then placed under conipression as strong or stronger than the cen trifugal forces which the structure \villliave to withstand in service, this compression being maintained by metal retaining bands and wedges. v

The main windings (3 are placed in slots in the core 8 in the manner usual for the bar rel type (if-winding, except that the insulation is made of material which is as little compressible as possible. The insulating material which I preferably employ is mica, protected atuits sides by compressed fiber board. In the core portion, the windings may be compressed in their slots by means of set screws, such as shown in Fig. 5, acting on steel blocks in the tops of the slots, and tiher or other wedges t) are driven in lengthwise of the slots under the shoulde at the ends of the -ore-teetlu to maintain the pressure upon the wiiulings as the steel compression blocks are removed.

The end-connecting portions 10 of the winding arecontained in annular chambers at the ends of the rotor formed by hub-portions 11. 9.8 and rings 12, 13 mounted thereon. The outer ring 13 at the end of the rotor is solid. to completely close said end, while the ring 12 next the core is slotted in a manner similar to the core-disks to permit the windings to pass through. As the conductingbars are placed upon the armature, the open spaces iuihe annular chambers containing the end-cm1nections are filled with tiller-blocks it forced into place. A thick layer 15 of micaniteor other slightly plastic insulating material is then placed over the windings and subjected to con'lpression, as by the apparatus shown in Fig. 5. compression blocks It? are placed around the ends of the armature over the insulating n1aterial and engaged by set screws 17 mounted in a ring 18. The rotor is then heated in an ioven to slightlysoften the insulating ma Sectional terial and the screws tightened to subject the insulation material to very heavy pressure so that it is made to flow suflicie'ntly to fill up1 all unevenness and open spaces. Then w on the rotor is taken out of the oven, the ring 18' being first tocool, shrinks so as to still further increase the compression. As the rotor body cools, the set screws can be further tightened. The compression is thus repeated several times with heating and cooling until the head of the winding is molded into a very compact mass. When the comression has been carried as far as possible in this manner, the 'clampingrings are taken off and the exterior of the material is turned off true and metallic bands 19 placed around i the end portions to hold the material during :.further manipulation. Thesebands may be of iron or steel wire and when in place are turned off almost but not quite flush with the peri heral edges of the end rings 12, 13, after w ichthe heavy bronze or non-ma netic steel retainin -rings 20 are put on whi e heated and shru into place. The intermediate bands 19 serve not onlyv to retain the winding while the rotor is being completed, but also to rotect theinsulating marteria'l from being listered or charredwhile the heated retaining ring's'20 are being set. By making the bands 19v project slightly above the end supports 12, 13, .the shrinkage of the retaining rings will practically remove any slight expansion which may have occurred when the'cla-mp rings 18 were taken off, and will set up a compression on the heads of the winding greater than that which results from the Icentrifugal force to which the rotor is subjected in service.

It will be seen that the end connections with the insulating material therefor thus form a solid mass, compressed within the annular connection box, which is formed by a central. supporting drum, end plates thereon, and a retaining ring supported concentrically at both ends by said end plates. The toothed rings 12 which form the inner ends of the box .allow the conductor bars to be led from the core to the box through the slots between the teeth, while said teeth form rigid radial supporting members for the retaining band, which is shrunk into very} tight engagement therewith. This construction successfully revents even very slight displacement of t e end-connections ior retainin bands. Such displacement has been difiicuft if not'im ossible to avoid heretofore by reason of t e enormous centrifugal strains which are set up in a rotor'turning at high speed, and a displacement of even a few thousandths of an inch will throw the rotor out of balance and cause serious vibraby free air-space, to keep the end-connec- -tions sufliciently cool without allowing dust provided place before the main windin and dirt to be blown into them. Preferablya freespace is left between the main body 8 of the core and the inner endlates of the connection-boxes, in order to al ow free cir.-

culation of air.

Another feat-are of the construction is that the windings where they pass out of i the head or chamber at the commutator end -are so disposed and insulated that they will not be liable to be short-circuited by dirt which tends to be driven outwardly from the shaft by centrifugal fan action and to accumulate onthe inner surfaces of projecting parts. The conductor bars are protected by insulating tubes, and the radially-innermost conductor in each slot rather thanthe outer- 'IIIOSt is the one which is connected to the The end of the retaincommutator tang. ing ring is separated from the conductors by a wide radial surface of insulating material against which dirt cannot lodge, and the insulating) tubes surrounding the inner conductor ars prevent short circuits in the corners where they emerge from the head.

ugal' strains in a manner similar to that" above-described for the main windings. These equalizing windings will be s'et'in are applied. The annular channel for their reception is composed .of a cylindrical bed-plate 21 cal;- ried by the spider 2'2, and end-plates orrings 23, 24 forming the ends of the chamber,'the inner ring being solid and the outer ring slotted to permit the conductors to pass out and make connection to the commutator. The commutator segments have two different sets of tangs 25, 26, one set being connected to the main armature conductors and'the other set to the equalizer conductors. This provision of separate tangs facilitates the successive connection of thc equalizing and main windings and also affords additional radiating surface to carry away the heat from ,the commutator parts. The tangs 26' for the equalizing windings extend radially from the commutator, immediately in frontof the hollow or open space in-the supporting drum 21, so that-said tangs act as fan blades tqcause an active circulation of airradially outward from such space.

In assembling the rotor, the equalizing -connections are first applied, being covered with insulating material which is subjected to repeated compression in the manner described with reference to the insulating material covering the main windings, and a band 27 which may be of steel wire ifs'then placed about the insulation and turned off almost but not quite flush with the edges of 15 to receive the end-connecting portions of 1 'end plates and supported thereby, the ending said windin s and forming therewith a complete solid filling in said-chambers, re-- ing their end connecting portions disposed prising a central hollow supporting drum against which the end-com1ections of the the main winding, said main winding being i then applied in the manner already described.

I claim l. A rotor for high speed electrical machines comprising a core, windings on said core, end connections for said windings, and an annular connection-box at the end ofthe rotor in which said end connections are disposed, said connection b'ox comprising a hollow central supporting drum, end plates supported upon said drum at both ends thereof, and a retaining ring fitted upon said plate nearest the core being slotted for the passage of the windings.

-2..A rotor for high-speed electnical niachines,=said rotor having annular chambers in the end portions thereof, windings havin said annular ;hambers and insulating material under heavy-compression surroundtainlng bands covering said chambers, and heavy solid metal retaining rings shrunk on outside said bands.

3. A rotor for high speed electrical machines comprising a core, windings thereon, an annular coxmection-chamber at the end of the core receiving the end-connections of I said winding, said. chamber being formed by a hollow supporting drum, upon which the end-connections are compressed, sup porting rings closing the chamber at eaclr, end, the inner ring being slotted for the passage of the winding, a retaining ring sup-.

orted rigidly upon said rings, and insu ating material surrounding the end connections in said chamber and forming a solid filling therefor.

4. In a rotor for highspeed electrical machines, the combination with a core having windings thereon, of an annular connectionbox at the end of said core, said box comwinding are compressed, end plates closing the ends ofsald box, and a retammg rmg shrunk upon said end-plates; said box being 5 separated from the body of the core by a ventilating space.

5. A head for the rotor of a high-speed electrical machine comprising a central sup porting drum, windings disposed around said drum, insulating material compressed outside of said windings, a metallic band maintaining a preliminary compression on said insulating material, and a retaining ring placed around said preliminary band under pressure.

6. An armature for higlrspeed dynanios having a drum atthe commutator end thereof, equalizer windings placed around said drum and covered by insulating material, a retaining cylinder surrounding'the insulation outside said equalizer windings,

and plates forming with said cylinder an outer concentric chamber, windings having their end connections disposed in said chamber, insulating material surrounding said windings and forming therewith a complete solid filling for said chamber, and a retaining ring surrounding the insulation outside of said windings.

7. An armature for high-speed electrical machines having a shaft, a core, a main winding on said core, an equalizing winding supported concentrically inside the end-connecting portions of said main winding, a commutator the segments whereof have tangs connected to said main winding and separate tangs extending radially to connect with said equalizing windings, said equalizing winding being supported at a.

distance from the central shaft, leaving an open space in front of which the radial tangs are disposed to act as centrifugal fan blades.

8. An armature having an end connecting box, armature bars projecting from said box and surrounded .by insulating tubes, said bars being arranged in a plurality of concentric sets, a commutator, tangs connecting the radially-innermost armature bar with the commutator segments, said connectingbox including a metal retaining ring forming the outer cylindrical wall thereof. a radial insulating surface being provided between the exposed surface of the armature bars and said retaining ring.

In witness whereof, I, hereunto subscribe my name this 2nd day of March A. D., 1907.

HENRY H. VAIT.

Witnesses i DE VVrr'r C. TANNER, ALFRED.H. MOORE. 

